Specified cast is not valid

Question

Hi,
Can anybody help me how to convert type object ionto decimal please?
I have this code
object rez = command2.ExecuteScalar();
iznosd = (decimal)rez;
I tried also
iznosd = (decimal)command2.ExecuteScalar();
but nothing changed, I get error "Specified cast is not valid error" in this line
iznosd = (decimal)command2.ExecuteScalar();
Thanks

Santhosh Kumar Jayaraman · Accepted Answer

iznosd =   Convert.ToDecimal(command2.ExecuteScalar());

Nel · Answer

Thank you very much to all of you. Thank you Vulpes and Jignesh as well for your explanations

Vulpes · Answer

If ExecuteScalar() were returning null, then he'd get a NullReferenceException rather than an InvalidCast exception when attempting to cast to decimal.
This is why I thought it likely that it's returning a value of a different numeric type as you need to cast back to the original type when unboxing.
It's also possible (though unlikely) that it's returning DBNull.Value which would give an InvalidCast exception and would also fail if you used Convert.ToDecimal instead.

Jignesh Trivedi · Answer

hi Nel, Santhosh is right, if your ExecuteScalre may return null and direct cast cannot handle null.
and Convert.ToDecimal can handle Null. decimal? iznosd = Convert.ToDecimal(command2.ExecuteScalar()); hope this will help you.

Vulpes · Answer

The chances are that ExecuteScalar is not actually returning a decimal. It may be returning a double or an int instead.
If so, then you need to cast to the actual type first and then cast to decimal. For example, if it's a double:
object rez = command2.ExecuteScalar();
iznosd = (decimal)(double)rez;
This should also work:
Decimal.TryParse(command2.ExecuteScalar().ToString(), out iznosd);